No Place Like Home
by Priyanka.Nawathe
Summary: What happens if Paige Matthews goes to the future instead of the past on wearing Grams' red boots. P.S. : I do not own any of the characters that were shown on "Charmed"
1. Chapter 1

What happens if Paige Matthews goes to the future instead of the past on wearing Grams' red boots.

P.S. : I do not own any of the characters that were shown on "Charmed"

PROLOGUE:

January 2003

The sisters were catching up with each other in the attic in Halliwell Manor, with Piper standing there feeling happy to see them while Phoebe and Paige pulled clothes out of the boxes. And as they went through all of their belongings, Paige realized that moving out of the manor was a bit like losing her home and with a huge sigh said out loud, "God, it's really kind of hitting home."

"What's that?" asked Piper.

"Well, that I don't live here anymore."

"I know what you mean" said Phoebe on completely agreeing with Paige.

"Richard's doesn't feel like home yet, you know? I don't know, I guess I just had more fun here."

"Yeah. 'Cause this place is a riot." commented Piper with a smirk on her face.

"No, I just, I don't know, I guess I'm more free here. Free to be me." explained Paige as Piper peeped into some of the old boxes.

The moment she found old red knee-high boots, she pulled them out and teased out loud, "Oh, wow, Phoebe. These are some boots."

" No, they're not mine, but I wish they were 'cause they're hot." replied Phoebe longingly.

"The box says 'Penny'. Penny as in Grams Penny?" said Paige on noticing the name scrawled on the box.

"No way. I refuse to believe that Grams ever wore anything this hot." said Phoebe, feeling completely surprised.

"Yeah, I figured her more for steel-toed orthopedics, you know, the better to kick your ass with." said Piper.

"They're your size, Paige, try them on." insisted Phoebe.

"I don't know." groaned Paige.

"Oh, come on, just do it."

"They're kind of sixties." replied Paige with a frown.

"So what's wrong with the sixties?"

"The sixties was like the worst fashion era. Hello!" grumbled Paige while putting on the boots. "Bad clothing, bad hair, and extremely questionable personal hygiene. Hey, they fit!" she continued with a smile and disappeared in a puff of smoke the moment she said that.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 1:**

January 2026:

Feeling slightly lightheaded, Paige landed with a thud in what used to be her bedroom. But to her surprise, it did not look like Baby Wyatt's room either. Especially, as it was currently being occupied by a tall, slim girl glancing at herself in the mirror.

"Hello! Hey! Can I talk to you?" yelled Paige out loud to catch her attention.

"Hang on. Just trying to adjust my aura" replied the girl while splashing some perfume on herself.

Few minutes later, she noticed Paige just as as she was done fussing with herself in the mirror.

"Hi Paige! When did you get here?"

"Um. Just now" replied Paige wondering who in the world this teenage girl could be. But the moment that thought crossed her mind, her eyes fell on a picture frame that stood on the bedside table. A picture that included herself hugging the girl that stood in front of her at the moment. Feeling warm and relieved, she picked up the frame and kept staring at it.

"Yeah. The photo we took last year, Can't believe it's been a whole year since then" commented the girl who stood still gazing at Paige.

"Yeah. Can't believe it" agreed Paige with tears glistening in her eyes for reasons she couldn't figure out. And the moment she set the picture back on the table, she noticed the words on the frame "PAIGE & PENNY HALLIWELL - HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025".

"Penny Halliwell ! You are Penny Halliwell? Oh my God!" yelled Paige out loud feeling a shockwave flow through her entire body.

Noticing Paige's reaction and the words spilling out of her mouth, Penny felt warning bells ringing in her head and with a quick wave of her hand threw Paige in the corner of the room. Surprised by that action, Paige felt disoriented and groaned weakly," What was that for? You are Penny. You are family. As far as I know, family doesn't do that to each other."

"If you are family, you wouldn't have been surprised to see that picture. I have taken that picture with Paige Matthews and that is the best memory I have of her" yelled Penny.

"I am Paige Matthews and as far as I know, the only Penny Halliwell I know or I should have known is my grandmother" yelled Paige back at her while trying to get back on her feet.

"Wait. What are you saying?" asked Penny looking warily towards Paige.

"This picture was taken in 2025. Well, I am from 2003. So why don't you tell me who you are and we will call this fight even" replied Paige with a menacing tone.

"I can't" replied Penny in a broken voice.

"Why not ?" asked Paige feeling annoyed.

"Future consequences" answered Penny instinctively.

Feeling slightly defeated by that answer, Paige sat on the bed and let out a breath while pouting her lips slightly. Noticing the annoyed-Paige look that she had seen plenty of times in her past, Penny sat beside her and chose to change the topic by asking, "So, how come you are here from 2003?"

"Huh ? Oh yeah! I wore these boots from Penny's box and they brought me here. But we thought they belonged to Grams. Never thought I would come to the future."

"We thought? As in you, mo-. I mean more witches from the power of three?"

"Yeah" replied Paige having a nagging feeling that Penny was hiding something crucial.

But the moment she opened her mouth to question Penny regarding those potential secrets, she heard a very familiar voice shouting out loud, "PENNY! PEN! YOU IN HERE?"


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 2:**

Recognizing the loud, agitated voice that she had been hearing quite frequently lately, Paige felt relieved and confused at the same time. Relieved upon hearing a familiar sound and confused wondering how on earth was it possible for a person to be in two places at once or more specifically in two eras at once. And the moment he entered the room, both of them stood there staring at each other wondering how was it possible for the other person to be there in the year 2026 in Halliwell Mansion of all times and places.

"Chris! So glad to see you. Huh. Never thought I would say that. But this is weird One minute I am sitting upstairs catching up with my sisters and the next moment I am here. Apparently in 2026. Is this true? Feels true. Surreal but true. Everything looks so different. And you look just as confused. So maybe I should stop babbling now."

Feeling confused and uncertain, Chris narrowed his eyes at the babbling question coming out of Paige and in order to assure himself, asked Penny, " Friend or foe?"

"Hey!" exclaimed Paige by slapping Chris on his arms while feeling offended.

"Friend. Definitely friend. Don't worry" replied Penny with a smile.

"Yup. Definitely friend" thought Chris on noticing the classic Paige-style reaction to his question.

"So what are you doing here Paige? This is not your time" demanded Chris , still wondering whether she was real or just an apparition.

"Well, clearly it isn't. And believe me, I would like the answer to that question as much as you" answered Paige exhaustedly.

"And what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in 2003 as well" continued Paige feeling nonplussed.

"2003? Why on earth would I be in 2003? I wasn't even born in 2003."

"Oh! Really? I had no idea. But wait. Who are you related to? How do you know us so well?" questioned Paige, knowing only too well that she wasn't going to get any answers just as the words spilled out of her mouth.

Just as predicted, Chris ignored the question that brought a small sad smile on his face. No matter how much time had passed, all the memories that Chris held about Paige and her sisters seemed a little too fresh at times. There were days when it seemed to be healing but questions like these broke the wounds those memories brought making sadness gush out a little too painfully. Even though over the years Chris had learned more than anyone else to hide his feelings, Penny could always see right through his weaknesses. So completely aware of the ordeal Paige's questions were likely to put Chris through, she hurriedly suggested, "Maybe we should all gather. Decide how to get Paige back to 2003."

"No wait!" interrupted both Paige and Chris.

"Why?" asked Penny feeling puzzled.

"Because.. Because the others don't know Paige is here from 2003. We need to inform them. They will be overwhelmed if we don't give them any idea of the situation."

"Yeah. He's right!" said Paige agreeing with Chris although her own reasons for delaying her return back to the time were completely different.

As much as she wanted to know about her future family, her biggest reason laid with questions that her and her sister's whitelighter, Chris Perry brought up for them.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 3:**

"OK. Paige, you stay here. Penny and I will go talk to the others and then call you downstairs" said Chris with a warning look in his eyes.

"Yeah. Sure. Will do" replied Paige with an innocent look on her face.

"Which means DON'T ORB ANYWHERE. Got it?"

"Geez. OK, Got it. No orbing. I promise, Neurotic-Freak" answered Paige in an irritated voice with her fingers crossed behind her back.

"OK" replied Chris with his jade-green eyes narrowed at Paige. Having known her almost his entire life, Chris had a sneaky suspicion that she would definitely try to orb away. So all he did was focus on a wooden box that was in the attic and with a snap of his fingers orbed some of the crystals in the doorway as well as the window-sill but a little bit hidden from Paige's gaze.

The moment he left the room along with Penny, they both started discussing what could be done about the current situation and the potential problems that might arise.

"OK . What the hell is going on? How did she get here? And what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be taking care of Wyatt?" questioned Penny.

"Yeah. Well, there's been a slight change in the plans as you can see" replied Chris irritably while climbing up to the attic with his sister.

"So you knew she was coming here and just followed her ?"

"No! OK. Do you remember the story mom and aunts had told us about their journey to the past and how they had met Grams and Grandpa Alan back then?"

"Yeah.."

"Well I am guessing this was supposed to be the same one but for some reason Paige came into the year 2026 instead of going way back to that past. Only the question is why and how was it possible" explained Chris as they entered the attic.

"The boots! She's wearing the red 60's boots" realized Penny.

"Yeah. So she should have gone back to the past. Why here? Now?"

"Um. Uh. I think I might have something to do with it" replied Penny feeling slightly guilty.

"I am listening. What did you do?"

"You see. Just yesterday I was looking through all the old boxes and I found some of Grams' old stuff. The boots. I really liked those. So I summoned her and asked if I could wear them to my date with Dan. Thought they would look amazing on m-"

"Hold on. Back up. Date? With Dan? Are you kidding me?" Chris shouted out loud.

"Simmer down, Kitkat. And focus" said Penny rolling her eyes.

Then as Chris stood there glaring at her, she continued,"So the point is that Grams blessed it and I did a small spell to shift its ownership onto me. Didn't want to literally go into the 60s on wearing those."

"Hmm. So you had to do it yesterday didn't you?" commented an annoyed Chris frowning warily at her.

"Oh. Stop pouting, Peanut. Your face will get stuck that way" teased Penny.

"OK. OK. We just have to get her back there now. Don't we?" said Chris as he ruffled through several pages of Book of Shadows wondering what will help them get her back to her year.

"We could use the spell that you used to get here. We'll just need to tweak it a bit."

"Yes. I suppose" replied Chris distractedly.

"OK. Now that's decided. My turn. What are you doing here when you should be there with the rest of the sisters?"

"Um. There's been another problem going on back there. So we didn't want to leave Baby Wyatt without any Charmed protection. Since I have time-traveled before, the sisters and Leo and Grams agreed that I would be best choice to find Paige. But I never thought I would end up back here, Pen."

"I know. It's OK. We will figure it out" assured Penny.

"But what if he finds out that she's here?"

"He won't."

"She's not going to be safe, Pen."

"She's safe, Chris. Listen to me. She's going to be safe this time. So are you. Don't worry at all."

" Yeah. Well. I worry. Got that from mom, didn't I?"

"Yeah. You did" smiled Penny and for a while they just stood there lost in thoughts, remembering Piper Halliwell and the way she was when they were kids.

"OK. Now we need to tell the others. Let them know what's going on. Especially Junior and the twins. Where are they? Come to think of it, I haven't seen anyone else since I got here" said Chris wondering out loud.

"They are at magic school. Trish and Mel are there. So figured it would be the best place for the twins and Mattie to stay today" replied Penny avoiding eye contact with Chris.

"Trish and Mel in magic school. That's not good."

"Don't worry, _mom_. It's just normal routine."

"If you say so. And Junior. Where's he?"

"Oh. You know. Just around."

"Why do I get the feeling that you are not telling me something?"

"Oh. You are just exaggerating. He will be back soon. So should we get the spell you used to get here?" replied Penny by changing the subject.

"Yes. Sure. But unfortunately, we will have to go to magic school for that."

"Why? You both came here through Halliwell Mansion. So you can get back from here itself" reacted Penny feeling slightly panicked.

"Because, dear little sis, it's no 'Wizard of the Oz' story. She can't just tap the red boots and go back home you know" replied Chris sarcastically to which Penny just stuck her tongue out while scrunching her face.

"The spell was read by mom, Grams and Leo which means a witch, a ghost and an Elder which as you can see are not here. Hence, the magic school" explained Chris.

"But do you realize how painful it's going to be for Junior and the twins to see her. It's been so long since.. Well . You know" replied Penny with her voice breaking painfully.

"Yes. I know. How do you think I felt when I reached into the past? But you know what, she won't meet everyone. We will just sift through them and only introduce the ones needed for the spell" assured Chris.

"OK. That should work, I guess" replied Penny with a little bit of relief.

"So. Ready to call her?" asked Chris.

The moment Penny nodded in agreement with him, the first thing he did was orb two of the crystals hidden in the doorway and shout out loud, "Paige! Paige! We are in the attic."


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 4:

The moment Chris and Penny left the room, Paige began orbing out of there hoping to get some solid answers. But every time she tried, all she did was bounce of the walls and fall hard on the floor. Thinking that the whole time-travel journey had messed up with her powers , she got off the floor after falling for the umpteenth time, dusted off her legs and began to walk out of the room. But the second she placed her foot out of the door, she got zapped by electricity and fell back onto the floor.

"Ugh ! How many times am I supposed to fall today ?" groaned Paige getting irritated. Guessing that Chris most likely trapped her within crystals to stop her from sneaking away, she felt equally impressed and irritated with him. She dropped back on to the bed and resigned herself to being trapped in the room with a heavy sigh. Knowing that she was going to be stuck for a while, she started looking around all the nooks and corners of the room that used to be hers once upon a time. Most of the things she noticed were ones that normal teenage girls would have but some things turned out to be not so normal. Tiny perfume bottles filled with potions instead of perfumes, pieces of jewelry made out of magical crystals, small arrows that looked like toys but were extremely lethal and a diary that was filled with spells she had never seen in the Book of Shadows.

"What has this place become ? Since when does a teenager use all this stuff ? Clearly something's gone terribly wrong ?" whispered Paige anxiously worrying about the kind of future she had arrived into.

"OK. That's it. CHRIS ! CHRIS! You better orb yourself in here, sneaky annoying whitelighter. I need some answers and I need them right now " shouted Paige out loud feeling a little shaken up about the time she had landed into.

The moment she was done yelling out for Chris, a tall, muscular guy with chocolate-brown hair and golden eyes shimmered into the room. Seeing Paige standing there yelling for Chris, out of sheer delight, he ran towards her wanting to hold her in his arms. But the moment he grabbed her into a hug from behind, the first thing she did was hit him hard in the stomach with her elbow and the moment he let her go, round-kicked him fiercely. Not expecting that from her, he was thrown into the corner of the room feeling completely surprised. Getting into combat mode, she stood there holding her ground while catching up on her breath and watching the boy warily.

He stood up slowly and a bit defensively while realizing that something was completely different about Paige. He stayed corner holding his hands up and showing her that he was a friend not a foe.

" Easy there. It's me. Dan. Friend of the neighborhood" he said with a small nervous smile.

"Friend, huh? How should I trust that? You just shimmered in here" questioned Paige angrily still feeling the adrenaline flowing through her.

"Yeah. But you have known a lot of demons who turned out to be friends. Plus I am not just a demon. More like a half-demon."

"Half or full. Demons always bite us in the end."

"Right.. We can argue about this all day. Have you seen Penny? I need to talk to her."

"She's somewhere with Chris while I am stuck here" grumbled Paige.

"Chris is here?" asked Dan with a surprised look on his face. "That's good. It's been too long. OK. See you around " he continued with a grin and a wink.

And just as he was about to shimmer away, Paige waved her hands desperately and yelled, "WAIT ! How did you get in here ? I couldn't orb out."

"Oh yeah ! See those stones. Chris used to charge them so certain people couldn't just orb out. Especially when he suspected that they would try to sneak away."

"I see. Is there any way you could get me out of here?" asked Paige with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure. Grab my hand. We will get out."

"Right. So I should just trust a demon. No, thanks."

"Well. That's your choice. See you later. I hope" answered Dan feeling offended.

"Wait. Fine. Just get me out of here" said Paige while grabbing two of the potion-perfume bottles.

"What's that for?"asked Dan feeling edgy having known the kind of _'perfume'_ Penny kept in her room.

"Insurance" answered Paige before grabbing his hand and shimmering out with him.

* * *

><p>"Paige! Paige! We are in the attic" yelled both Penny and Chris waiting for her to show up.<p>

Getting worried, Chris closed his eyes for a few seconds and tried to concentrate all of his power on Paige. "No. She's not here. I can't sense her" he said feeling panic rising inside him.

"What? How is that possible ? You had trapped her. Try again."

"I did. She's not here."

"Maybe she is. Remember how she used to cloak herself when she played hide-n-seek with us back then ?" suggested Penny feeling a little hopeful about Paige.

"Yes she did.." replied Chris thoughtfully. " What was that spell we had figured out for finding her ? Oh, Yeah I remember" and he started with the spell that they had used too many times in the past.

"Let the one in observation

Become real than a dream

As I cause the unseen to be seen"

"OK. Do you sense her now?" asked Penny as Chris closed his eyes to concentrate on Paige.

"No. No I don't sense her at all" he answered feeling worried and frustrated.

"Try harder ! You have to find her" demanded Penny.

"OK, smart-ass. You try if you think it's so easy."

"I don't know. I didn't think it was possible" replied Penny, nervously biting her lips.

"What ? You use that power all the time. Just give it a shot. You might find her" he insisted.

"Might ? That's great confidence" scoffed Penny with eyes narrowed. "Anyway I wasn't expecting her here. Since she's not from our time, I figured I won't sense her."

"And I am supposed to?"

"Well, technically you did come from her time. So yeah you can find her" she answered making Chris roll his eyes in frustration.

"OK. Lets just search through the manor. Maybe she's hiding. If there had been demons we would have heard the struggle" he suggested.

"You are right. Lets go look."


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 5:**

Meanwhile Dan and Paige shimmered in an alley surrounded by buildings and houses that were totally ruined while most of them were abandoned. And as they walked out of the alley, Paige felt completely shocked by everything that happened around them. People were running on the street screaming for their lives as demons continued throwing energy balls in different directions. A few people tried vanquishing the demons in their attempts to protect others. But the one thing she noticed the most was that none of it affected Dan. He continued walking casually along the street showing that none of it was his business and that he couldn't care any less about what happened around him.

Feeling the anger boiling inside herself, Paige had almost arrived at the conclusion that Dan indeed had to be a complete demon to not feel anything towards the people on the street when when they stepped in front of a derelict structure that seemed almost totally abandoned.

"What happened to the club ? Piper's going to kill you when she sees this" said Paige with a loud gasp as she noticed all the broken parts. The only thing that made her recognize the place was the sign P3 out of which the P kept blinking its light and 3 was about to fall.

"Come on. We need to get in there fast " urged Dan as he placed his hand on the door that pricked his finger drawing a drop of blood from him. A drop that seemed to flow in a shape that had become way too familiar for Paige in the past three years. The moment the symbol was fully formed, the door opened and they hurried inside.

Just as she was about to ask how was it possible for a demon to enter their home using the charmed symbol, she noticed the transformation that had taken place inside P3 and was completely thrown by it. The place that used to be filled with people who enjoyed music and food and drinks was full of adults and kids who trained to fight using their powers and any other weapons that were available. Kids fought with darklighters, witches fought with demons and people who were completely non-magical trained using athames.

"What has this place become?" said Paige feeling completely appalled by the people present in the room that used to be the club.

"Come on ! We need to get in there fast" Dan repeated urging her to follow him.

" No ! Not until you tell me what's going on? What are all these people doing in P3? What happened to it?" Paige questioned flatly, thinking that these were merely a fraction of the doubts that ran in her mind.

Knowing the kind of stubbornness that Paige carried with her, Dan partly gave in to her demands and answered just as flatly. "Fine. You want to know. This used to be P3. Now it is the headquarters of Resistance which is led by charmed ones. The charmed ones and everyone else are here to protect the innocent from the tyrant who has turned San Francisco into hell. Now will you get in here ?"

Feeling sad and compassionate, Paige whispered warmly with a smile, " Sure. Let's go."

As they reached the door of what used to be the back-office, the first thing she noticed was the word etched on it - R.O.M.E.

"We are entering in Rome now ! Wow. That's a quick way to Italy" Paige commented with a dry smile.

"No. That's just short for 'Resistance - Only Members Enter'" Dan explained with a shrug and a half-smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

As the door opened, they heard loud voices coming from the room. A heated argument seemed to be taking place between a tall slim woman with long jet-black hair and seemingly burly but gentle guy.

"I am telling you, Coop! Someone from the charmed ones is here. I can feel it. I can sense it."

"You have said this before. Maybe its just the fact that you miss them that makes you think that way."

"So you think I am wrong? That I have become so powerless that I can't see the difference between what I know and what I wish?" the woman retorted angrily glaring at him.

"I didn't say that . I am just saying that I understand how you feel. All of us lost them, not just you" Coop replied warily in an attempt to calm her down.

"OK. OK. I am sorry. But what if I am right?"

"No. Don't. We have been through this plenty of times. You know it won't be right. The Elders have put a red alert and disconnected any possible contact with us. There is no way that any of them could have turned into a whitelighter now."

Agreeing with Coop's logic, she felt completely broken and with a heavy heart sank back into the couch and hung her head down feeling completely dejected.

"Uncle Coop ! I brought someone to meet you all" said Dan as he entered the room.

Feeling a little invasive on entering the room clearly in the middle of a heated discussion, Paige extended her hand forward and was about to introduce herself when Coop with his face showing clear shock strode towards her and grabbed her into his arms. He held her close and was so happy to see her but afraid to let her go thinking she might dissolve or disappear if he didn't hold onto her.

"Uhh.. Can't... Breathe... Could.. You.." gasped Paige.

"Oh . Sorry" replied Coop sheepishly as he let her breathe. "How did you get here ? Are you OK? You look different. Something's different" he continued a volley of questions as he stared at her.

"I am sorry if I am being rude but who are you?" asked Paige.

"What? You don't remember?" whispered Coop as he felt his heart breaking.

"She has come over from the year 2003. A little accident apparently " explained Dan.

"Hmm. I see" replied Coop realizing that this was not the Paige who knew him and his kids. "In that case, I am Coop, your brother-in-law and Phoebe's husband. But don't tell her that when you get back. You know how she can get."

"Yeah. I know. Don't worry about it. Your secret's safe with me" Paige assured him with a half-smile.

But while they stood there absorbing each other's information, the woman that Coop had been arguing with stood there staring at them and feeling conflicted inside herself as she felt happy, relieved, sad, angry and a million other emotions all at once. As Paige noticed her standing there staring agape, she walked towards her; each of them hoping more than anything in the world that the woman they were looking at was not an illusion.

"Paige. You are here. I can't believe it.I mean I knew one of you were present but I couldn't tell who exactly."

"You can't believe it ? I can't believe it. Do you have any idea how long I wanted to meet you ? I only knew about you when you passed away. I mean your shoes are not that easy to fill, Prue."

"I know. But you would have remained a secret forever if you hadn't been needed to fill those shoes. And as far as I know, you do an excellent job both as a charmed one and as a sister" explained Prue as her heartbeat thudded fast against her chest.

"Oh Prue!" and saying so Paige hugged the sister she never got to know. "Still, I wish I had known you."

"We have time now to know each other."

But unfortunately for them, Dan interrupted, " I hate to break it to you, ladies, but we seem to have an urgent situation now."

And it clearly seemed to be the case as the charmed trident on the rings and pendant that they were wearing kept glowing a bright iris blue color.


End file.
